Service providers (e.g., wireless, cellular, etc.) and device manufacturers are continually challenged to deliver value and convenience to consumers by, for example, providing compelling network services. In particular, these services can include location and navigation services on a device, including augmented reality applications and content. Augmented reality applications allow users to generate real-time representations of physical environments with virtual computer-generated imagery. More specifically, the view of reality is modified by a computer, where the imagery is in semantic context with the environment. Consider, for example, a scenario where a user is operating a cell phone with integrated video capture that is recording the user's current surroundings. An augmented reality client application operable on the cell phone can interact with the video capturing device, location detection systems and any other sensory mechanisms of the cell phone, to overlay various graphic elements atop the recorded image. The graphic elements can, for instance, convey useful contextual information to the user regarding the images being captured, such as the names of objects, addresses, news data, advertisements, other attractions within proximity to the image being captured, etc. However, the graphic elements and related information (e.g., videos, images, etc.) can often involve the transfer of high volumes of data between the cell phone or other device and a corresponding server on the network, thereby taxing the bandwidth and capacity of the corresponding server and/or communication network. Accordingly, service providers and device manufacturers face significant technical challenges to providing rich content to or information to augmented reality and similar applications while reducing the burden on the supporting communication network.